Good & Evil Unicorns

OK, well they're not actually good or evil, just white or black.  I make up 20 pair or so for the local Medieval event every year and sell them in zip lock baggies with card toppers.  Yes, also as cat toys, though the pattern STARTED out as hanging ornaments.

Basically it's a horse head shape about palm sized (just the palm, not the finger area).  The first ones I made as ornaments were a tad smaller.  

Ornament -- these were all white unicorns, I'd used gold/yellow fuzzy pipe cleaners bent into a V for the horn, and white 1" wide lace for the mane, along with those sew on rhinestones (in blue).  The rhinestones you sew on had metal backs back then and are not on the market anymore as far as I can tell. Everything gem-wise is glue on now, apparently.  Anyway, the head itself was white felt, everything was sewn on the outside (no turning before stuffing) and you slid in the bent pipe cleaner making sure you did little 'wings' on each of the ends so it would stay in, and applied the lace as you went.  

The hardest part was making sure both sides of the neck were sewn as you did the lace mane, so you didn't have to go back and redo that section if part of it slipped.  Leave the bottom open and stuff, then machine sew that area closed as well.  Then use a sharp scissors and trim around all the edges to give the unicorn head a clean look, taking extra care on both sides of the mane.  The ears were white felt and added by hand, lastly.  I had a rounded bottom on the neck end.  To hang, use fishing line attached to the top of the head between the ears.  I liked the look of metallic gold thread for that better, but most gold threads can't be pulled through felt without unravelling or getting damaged, so fishing line is far easier.

Cat Toy -- For these I enlarged the pattern more to accomodate the catnip being put in.  Not by a whole lot though.  Same thing: cut the head, though I left the bottom flat instead of rounded at the bottom of the neck.  Instead of a pipe cleaner I machine sewed a gold horn, curving it a little for added interest.  The mane COULD have been made with lace trim but with the larger size you'd need 1 1/2" wide lace and with the costs on that stuff going up I switched out the lace for a felt mane instead.  Besides, lace shreds up when a cat is playing with the toy with teeth and claws.

It is a little harder sewing in a section of the felt mane down the neck and not missing the back edge side of the pattern as you do it, but a little practice and it's something you pick up fast.  Hardest part is doing that bend at the back of the skull area with the felt.  It'll look weird till you slice into the mane once the entire thing is sewed.  Leave the bottom open for stuffing, then machine sew that closed as well.  

For the eyes I use 8mm gold metallic plated beads.  Black didn't look good, and blue wasn't as pretty as the gold, so gold it was.  Ears went on at this stage too.  

The 'evil' unicorn is done in black felt, with metallic red eyes, though gold will work as well and looks just as striking.